Council won't be bullied

MAYOR Peter Taylor has accused Brisbane-based union delegates of damaging the morale of Toowoomba Regional Council staff by running a "misleading campaign".

Cr Taylor labelled claims that council had deliberately sought for Enterprise Bargaining negotiations to be placed before the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission as "absurd".

He said the Queensland Services Union had actively sought for the matter to go into arbitration several months ago.

"Council has said from the outset that we are committed to an agreement that is fair to our staff, to the council and, most importantly, to the community that we serve," Cr Taylor said.

"We will not allow external unions to bully council into paying more than the ratepayer can afford - council is very aware that the rates and charges have increased and that there is a limit to the additional amount that council and the community can pay.

"The elected council, management and even the bulk of our own staff are committed to providing efficient, cost effective services to our residents.

"There simply needs to be a degree of realism in this current economic environment."

QSU secretary Kath Nelson said the Cr Taylor was simply disrespecting his staff who were acting as a collective.

"It is not unreasonable for all council staff to receive the same wage increase that allows workers to deal with the increased cost of living," she said.